Various types of exercise equipment have been developed for muscle building and toning, whether ultimately used as a sport or for physical therapy.
Resistance exercise machines use various sources of resistance (gravity, friction, hydraulics, etc), and a combination of simple machines to convey that resistance to the person using the machine. Each of the simple machines (pulley, lever, wheel, incline) changes the mechanical advantage of the overall machine. Most exercise machines incorporate an Ergo-meter. An Ergo-meter is an apparatus for measuring the work a person exerts while exercising as used in training or medical tests.
Endless-path machines: Running/Walking machines (treadmills), elliptical, glider, climbing machines and stationary bicycles. The treadmill is one of the most popular endless-pass machines. It provides a moving platform with a wide Conveyor belt and an electric motor or a flywheel.
Rowing machines, also named rowers, simulate the body movements of using a rowing boat.
Spine Exercisers: range of fitness machines which comprises two foot striding units and two hand striding units, the Spine Exercisers concentrate on exercising and strengthening the muscles of the spinal column with the spine in free horizontal position.
Spinning ropes, boxing gloves, punching bags for kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts.
Wii Fit,—an exercise game consisting of activities using the Wii Balance Board peripheral. Training on Wii Fit is divided into four categories: yoga, strength training, aerobics, and balance games. The activities provide a core workout, emphasizing controlled movements rather than overexertion
Nautilus® Nitro style equipment: During any exercise, an individuals' strength varies at different points. Other machines don't address this strength curve—instead, the weight remains constant from beginning to end. This can limit muscle recruitment and overall performance. This system is driven by a four-bar linkage system, cam design, or a combination of both, which enables matching of the body's potential increases and decreases in strength.
One of the more common types of exercise equipment is the weight type device which uses weights to provide the necessary resistance. As is well known, these weight type devices have several disadvantages. They are cumbersome to move since they are generally associated with a frame and bench assembly and the weights need to be moved when the equipment is moved. In addition, these devices may cause injury to an inexperienced user since the weights may be dropped suddenly. Further, when weights are lifted an inertia of movement is created which tends to provide unevenness in the operating resistance during the exercising process.
An issue with those machines is that the velocity at which the weight is moved is controlled by the user. Many, if not most, users will move the weight at a velocity which is too fast for optimum muscle development.
Another problem is that the weight which is lowered is the same as the weight which is lifted, even though the muscles are capable of controlled lowering of a larger weight than they can lift. This controlled lowering of a weight, or negative resistance, is the most beneficial exercise for developing strength.
It is also desirable to perform a number of repetitions of each exercise, such as eight to twelve, so as to fatigue the muscle(s) being exercised. Because the capability of the muscles to perform the exercise decreases with each repetition, a weight which is less than the maximum which can be lifted is usually selected for the exercise. A preferred form is to have the weight for each repetition to be the maximum for that repetition; i.e. the weight should change with each repetition.
The therapeutic exercise is the prescription of bodily movement to correct an impairment, improve musculoskeletal function, or maintain a state of well-being. It may vary from highly selected activities restricted to specific muscles or parts of the body, to general and vigorous activities that can return a convalescing patient to the peak of physical condition.
Therapeutic exercise seeks to accomplish the following goals
Correct abnormal movement patterns and co-contractions;
Facilitate movement of limbs in prescribed range
Allow prescribed resistance to be used during each specific exercise.
Improve coordination;
Reduce rigidity
Improve balance
Promote relaxation
Improve muscle strength and maximal voluntary contractile force (MVC)
Improve exercise performance and functional capacity (endurance)
There is considerable effort to couple exercise devices with various video gaming systems (VGS). The shining example of commercial success in this direction is Nintendo's WII fit, which uses balance board and a simple remote controller to drive interactive games and virtual personal training. The success of WII fit is based on the facts that (a) it is a gadget (small, non-expensive) (b) it is easy to use (c) it is coupled with highly interactive and entertaining gaming activity. However, WII Fit does not provide resistance. The resistance exercises are limited to the situations when user's own weight, power cable, or dumbbells are providing resistance. The resistance can not be controlled by VGS
Although they are not yet reached the commercial mainstream, there are a lot of designs of aerobic exercise equipment that provide for connection with VGS. The parameters of aerobic exercise equipment (e.g., brake force for a bike or belt speed for a treadmill) are relatively easy to adjust by an electronic control. On other hand, the information on progress of the exercise, e.g. distance or calories burned, is easy to compute and feed to a VGS.
Strength training equipment is more difficult to couple with VGS. First of all, strength training normally require repetitions comprising of concentric and eccentric phases. For an efficient exercise, resistance shall be dependent on one or many of the following: position, repetition number, velocity.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,278,958 to Morgan describes variable resistance strength training machine. The variation of resistance is achieved by mechanically adjusting able pulley system. The adjustment process is initiated by a human. The machine still requires weight stack and frame and does not coupled with a VGS.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,567, Phillips, entitled “Exercise Bicycle Apparatus Particularly Adapted for Controlling Video Games,” issued Apr. 23, 1985. This patent shows an exercise bicycle that is used to control and fully operate a video game by use of electrical signals. These electrical signals are based on the motion of the handlebars as well as signals proportional to the speed at which the bicycle is being operated. This invention requires the use of an electrical generator and is limited to use with only exercise bicycles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,513 to Haydocy et al. teaches an exercise bike that controls VGS, providing game level rewards for achievement during exercise. It limited to aerobic exercise, requires a bulky exercise machine and does not provide for adjusting of exercise equipment parameters by VGS.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,537 to Hickman shows an exercise equipment connected to a local computer, which is in turn connected to a remote system. The patent teaches control of equipment resistance (e.g., exercise bike brake) by a computer system, and provides means for virtual group exercise. The patent does not teach energy recuperation during strength trainings repetitions, nor provide means for reinforcing video game environment nor automated personal training during exercise
U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,437, Ruis et al, entitled “Robotic Exercise Machine and Method”, discloses a hydraulic driven and controlled apparatus which can be programmed to provide a number of different exercise paths for a user. These paths must be programmed for each new user by a trained technician. The device lacks the simplicity necessary for use in a health club or spa type environment. Moreover, two separately controlled, hydraulically driven links are required for its operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,418 to Miller, entitled “Computerized drive mechanism for exercise, physical therapy and rehabilitation”, discloses a microcontroller based strength training machine that provide for both concentric and eccentric exercise. The control is limited to providing constant velocity during repetitions. The patent does not teach energy recuperation during concentric/eccentric repetitions, nor a connection with VGS. The device is bulky and can not be used as a gadget.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,230 to Cook teaches a pre-electronic era pneumatic strength training gadget. Device allows to manually adjust resistance, separately for forward and backward movement. However, this invention does not provide for eccentric exercise, Nautilus style exercise, nor for a connection to VGS.
None of the prior art is concerned with provision of a resistance based strength training closely coupled with a video gaming system that provides a reinforcing video game or a coaching.